NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer girls basketball team saved its best for last on Monday during its quarterfinal game of the Western Mass. Class D tournament.

The Panthers trailed No. 5 Mount Everett 42-35 heading into the final frame, but their defense stepped up to allow them to chip away at the deficit. It took four minutes for the Eagles to score in the fourth, with No. 4 Pioneer opening the frame on an 11-0 run to take a 46-42 lead. 

Mount Everett answered with back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 46, but the Panthers closed things out by scoring the final six points of the game, knocking down their free throws late to advance with a 52-46 victory at Messer Gymnasium. 

Down two senior captains — Sofia Walker and Caroline Ring — on a school trip, Pioneer coach Kevin Harrington said he was proud of how his shorthanded team stepped up to move on in the tournament. The Panthers advanced to play in the semifinals at No. 1 Hoosac Valley, which defeated No. 8 Ware, 58-30.

“Our message before the game was that they don’t know us and we don’t know them,” Harrington said. “We just had to play basketball and show them what we had. We were down two captains and we really had to lean on one another. We had to stay together as a team and keep our camaraderie and I’m proud of how we did that even without our captains.” 

Pioneer jumped out to an early 10-7 lead behind three baskets from Addie Harrington and scores from Hailey Ring and Kyler McClelland, but Mt. Everett closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 14-10 lead into the second. 

Eagles center Emma Goewey established herself against the smaller Panthers in the second quarter. Pioneer — playing without two of its bigs — had trouble slowing Goewey down in the paint, as she scored four baskets in the second alone and added a free throw to go into the half with 14 points. 

The 3-ball kept the Panthers in the game before the half, with McClelland (2), Harrington and Leah Potter each knocking down a trey in the second quarter to cut the Eagles’ lead to 25-22 at the half. 

Every time Pioneer got back in the game in the third quarter, Mt. Everett answered with a run of its own to keep its lead. Trailing 35-28, Laura Kahler scored and Harrington sank two free throws to cut the lead to 35-32 but Goewey scored down low and Emily Stevenagle drained a 3, helping the Eagles hold their 42-35 lead going into the fourth. 

McClelland got the run started for Pioneer in the fourth, as she drained her fourth 3 of the game. Behind a press that forced numerous turnovers, Harrington got to the line for two, Kahler scored on a steal and Ring scored twice in transition. Ring’s final basket gave the Panthers a 46-42 lead. 

Goeway finally ended the Pioneer run with a bucket inside with four minutes to go and Maggie Sarnacki followed with a basket of her own to tie the game. 

It was the final basket Mt. Everett scored, as the Panthers shut the visitors down the rest of the way. 

Whitnee Dunklee broke the tie with a free throw with three minutes to go and followed it with a basket in the paint. Kahler made two free throws in the final minute to seal the win. 

With the press holding form, Harrington saw his team’s conditioning step up when it mattered most.

“We knew their numbers were short as well,” Harrington said. “We wanted to get out and run and it was great to see our conditioning and our work ethic shine through in the fourth quarter when everyone was getting tired out there.” 

Harrington and McClelland each finished with 14 points in the win. Kahler tossed in 10 points and Ring added six points for the Panthers. 

Goeway had a team-high 22 points for Mt. Everett. 

Class B

Wahconah 68, Mahar 41 — The seventh-seeded Senators battled for the first half on the road in Dalton before No. 2 Wahconah turned on the jets after intermission.

Mahar trailed just 26-21 at halftime in the Class B quarterfinals on Monday, but the Warriors outscored the Sens by a 42-20 margin the rest of the way to earn a spot in the sectional semifinals.

Wahconah will host No. 3 Easthampton in the semis.

Mahar’s Kendrah Doane led the way with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Astha Bernard scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter alone, while Hayden Comeau tossed in eight points for the Sens (10-9).

Class C

Drury 46, Franklin Tech 45 — It came down to the wire in Turners Falls on Monday night. 

The No. 6 Blue Devils scored late to take a 46-45 lead, and when it looked like they were going to run out the clock with six seconds to go and upset the No. 3 Eagles, Franklin Tech forced a turnover. The Eagles were unable to hit the go-ahead shot, with Drury hanging on to earn a victory and advance to the Class C semifinals where it’ll face off against No. 2 Palmer. 

“I’m proud of the girls for battling until the end,” Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “We did a lot of good things defensively and executed our game plan really well. It was a good basketball game and the girls have nothing to hang their heads about.” 

Lea Chapman was a monster for the Eagles, posting an unconventional triple-double. The junior scored 11 points, pulled down 15 rebounds — nine offensive — and blocked 12 shots to key the Franklin Tech defense. Hannah Gilbert scored a team-high 12 points and dished four assists, Kendra Campbell had nine points, Kait Trudeau scored seven points and Kyra Goodell chipped in six points in the loss. 

Palmer 55, Greenfield 28 — Amber Bergeron poured in a team-high 19 points, but the seventh-seeded Green Wave were unable to keep pace with No. 2 Palmer in a Class C quarterfinal game on Monday night.

The Panthers (15-3) led 14-8 after one quarter and 27-16 at halftime.

Tayler Bergeron added five points and Carly Blanchard scored the other four points for Greenfield.

Greenfield (7-12) will play a non-playoff game later this week, and the Wave still have an outside shot at qualifying for the MIAA Division 5 state tournament. The team was No. 33 in the most recent Power Rankings entering this week. The top 32 automatically qualify for the Big Dance.

“Proud of this group of girls that were on the court for us tonight,” Greenfield coach Ben Johnson said. “It’s no easy task to go up against the number six team in the state for Division 5 but to do it with six girls and half of them in eighth grade… proud would be an understatement. They competed every possession and never backed down. They gave it their all and that’s all I could ask for.”

Class D

Monson 57, Turners 31 — Third-seeded Monson rode a huge performance from star Olivia Chrzan, as the 1,000-point scorer poured in a game-high 37 points to lift the Mustangs past the Thunder and into the semifinals.

Monson, which advanced to play at No. 2 Lenox in the semis, led 12-9 after one quarter and 29-15 at halftime before using a 20-7 edge in the third quarter to create some additional separation.

Turners was powered offensively by a 17-point performance from Taylor Greene. Steph Peterson, Madi Liimatainen and Tatiana Carr all added four points for the visitors.

The Thunder (10-9) will play in a non-playoff game at Mount Everett on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in preparation for next week’s MIAA Division 5 tourney.

Non-playoff

Mt. Greylock 44, Athol 17 — The Bears trailed just 10-8 after one quarter but couldn’t keep pace in a road loss in Williamstown on Monday.

Anna Duquette’s seven points paced Athol, while Emma Bacigalupo added five points.

Athol (7-12) closes out its season on Tuesday at home against Pioneer Valley Christian (6 p.m.).